Vertical Axionhttps://www.verticalaxion.com
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 17:40:15 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.13 Changes To Your Website That Are Proven To Improve Conversionhttps://www.verticalaxion.com/2017/02/08/3-changes-to-your-website-that-are-proven-to-improve-conversion/
Wed, 08 Feb 2017 17:45:20 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=4601How’s your company’s website? How well does it convert? Do you know the answer to that question? If you don’t, that’s a problem.

Most company websites are varying degrees of ineffective, but there’s good news. You can potentially change that by doing these three things!

Measure your results

Too often, an entrepreneur will spend money to have a website built, and once it’s up and running, that’s it. Items marked off of the day’s “to-do” list, and onto the next thing.

Unfortunately, that’s very far from what it takes to make your website work. It’s incredibly important to measure the response to your website and make changes to increase your conversion.

Experiment with competing calls to action on multiple landing pages to see which one works the best. If you’re not testing on a near-constant basis, you are leaving money on the table.

Experiment with different approaches to get people to sign up for your mailing list. Try new headlines. Try a radical redesign. Even a “failed” test is revealing. Over time, these ongoing experiments will help improve your conversion rates.

Get To The Point, FAST!

Today’s consumer has access to so much information at such great speeds that it is much harder to get their attention for long. The reality is that most of your site’s visitors aren’t sure if they want to buy from you or not. Tell them why they should as close to the top of the page as possible.

Tell them what sets your company apart from the rest, and what you bring to the table that’s different and compelling at or near the top of your website. This is commonly called “above the fold”.

Your copy isn’t the only place you need to be quick. Studies suggest that for every second it takes your page to load, you lose 7% of the people visiting your site. Be relentless about optimizing your page’s load times. It should be virtually instantaneous. Work hard to eliminate bottlenecks in page loading speed.

Shorter Forms Improve Response

People often walk away from a purchase for no other reason than the order form is long and confusing.
Make sure your order form process is quick, streamlined and painless. The more hoops you make someone jump through to complete their transaction, the more likely they are to simply abandon it. Keep your forms down to the minimum about of information needed to successfully complete the transaction.

No matter if you’re new to the world of business or a seasoned pro you’re almost certain to get plenty of advice about how to increase your sales. The reality is that the concepts are not that much different from increasing your sales in the brick and mortar world.

There are many other steps you can take to improve conversions on your website. If you commit to doing the three things outlined above, you will have a great start to seeing a measurable difference in your conversion rates.

Some of the biggest news stories lately have been about hackers. Many hacking attempts against major companies have led to serious data breaches. Millions of accounts and passwords were taken.
How can you protect yourself when these breaches occur?

One of the steps you can take to protect your accounts from hackers is to create a strong password. Strong passwords are harder to crack, and because of this, hackers will usually move on to the next password instead and your account may be safer. Here are a few tips on how to create a strong password that will be hard to crack.

First, make your passwords more complex. Don’t just include letters in your passwords. Include symbols, numbers, and punctuation as well. Most of us are used to just using 40 or so keys on the keyboard; don’t let yourself fall victim to this. Complex doesn’t mean that you have to make something so difficult that you don’t actually remember it, but it does mean you need to have a variety of characters as your password.

Use More Than One Password

Design and implement three to four passwords at the very least. Your bank accounts and credit card accounts should have the most difficult passwords while accounts that aren’t going to reveal vital information can have simpler passwords. Hackers often hack into lower security websites, grab passwords, and use them to get into your other more important accounts. The best advice is to use a password management software that can generate and remember a different password for every site you use.

So, How Can You Create A Better Password?

First, Start with a sentence, such as “I believe in fairies.” Second, remove any spaces in between your words. “Ibelieveinfairies.” Third, misspell some words on purpose. “Ibelivinfaeries.” Finally, if possible, add some numbers or other characters such as underscores or punctuation marks. You should end up with something like this
“Ibelivinfaeries!982011.”

Make sure the numbers are numbers you’ll remember at a later date. They should have some meaning to you.
While no method is guaranteed to keep you hack-proof, making your passwords stronger certainly helps. Additionally, some experts recommend changing your passwords every few months for added protection. If you’d like more information on keeping your networks and data safe, give our team a call. We’d love to help.

Your IT Company
(361) 386-2049
youritcompany.axionthemes.com

]]>Three Powerful Business Lessons From DMXhttps://www.verticalaxion.com/2014/07/25/three-powerful-business-lessons-from-dmx/
Fri, 25 Jul 2014 13:44:44 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=3277True entrepreneurs know that there are times in life that you must consult a high fountain of knowledge to make breakthroughs in their business. Some of us read business books to learn more about a subject we feel we may lack in. Many of us (myself included) employ business coaches to help get over a growth hump.

DMX is one of the best business motivation speakers. Seriously!

Still more of us either read or listen to one of the world’s many well know business though leaders. Names like Richard Branson, Seth Godin, Jay Conrad Levinson and Michael Gerber are common to hear. I’d like to bring your attention to another huge inspiration that has influenced my business on a weekly, if not daily basis. I would like to introduce to you, rap star and motivational business speaker, Earl Simmons more commonly known as DMX.

I know, right now you are thinking, “Ya’ll gon make me lose my mind, Herman”, but hear me out.

Have you ever had trouble focusing on a project, then put on your headphones so you can focus better? I imagine you have. I sure do. Studies indicate that workers who listen to music come up with better ideas and complete tasks better than those who do not listen to music because listening to music improved their mood.

Have you ever listened to a song and got the chills? That is a dopamine release. Your body releases dopamine and triggers the pleasure center of your brain. Knowing that, I regularly use music to focus my energy and thoughts to get work done.

My music of choice to really kick work into overdrive has been DMX. I never really got why. I just know it works. Then one day while listening to DMX with my wife on the way to a restaurant I understood why. DMX is secretly a motivational business speaker who uses powerful double meaning in many of his songs.

DMX is the ULTIMATE BUSINESS MOTIVATOR!

All his best songs are straight up about good business practice. Let’s look at the lyrics of some of them and how they apply to business. These songs contain adult words so if you are easily offended, just catch my next blog post. On second though, if you are offended by dirty words, we probably haven’t met yet.

DMX Motivational Message #1 – Market To Your Prospects Where They Are and Use Guarantees

X Gonna Give It To Ya

“X gon give it to ya
F- wait for you to get it on your own
X gon deliver to ya
Knock knock, open up the door, it’s real”

“X gon give it to ya, F- wait for you to get it on your own, X gon deliver to ya”: Mr. Simmons (X for those who don’t know) is obviously teaching us that you can’t wait for a prospective client to walk through the door, you must deliver your marketing message in a clear and “real” way.

“Knock knock, open the door, it’s real”: Here DMX makes it clear, you have to reach out to where the client is most likely to see your marketing message and whenever possible make sure to include a guarantee.

DMX Motivational Message #2 – How to Deal With the Competition When They Talk Trash.

From time to time in business you may find a company using negative marketing directed at you. Personally, I don’t look at business as a competition, but others feel it is and are bad sports about it. I’ve personally had competitors go as far as call my clients to say negative remarks about my own business. I was so angry that I almost lost focus on my business. I was both angry and sad. I was mad that this jerk would try something so lame as to disparage me personally, then I was sad that their business was so poor for clients they had to target mine and stoop low to get them. I wanted to reach out to this person to both strangle them and ask them if I could some how help them out of the hole they were obviously in. Then I remembered the words of my mentor, DMX.

Ruff Ryder’s Anthem

“Drop”: Drop the thought that communicating with people like this will do any good.

“Shut ‘em down”: If they are being libelous or slanderous. Use proper legal channels and they will make the offender stop. If they aren’t, just ignore them. Ignoring a troll is the best way to have them stop.

“Open up shop”: Double your focus on your business. Success is often the best form of revenge on those who wish you ill.

Ultimately, my crew (employees) rallied around me and we handled business for real by refocusing on our own business. The moron that tried to punk us split and we stood strong.

By the way, the guy that called my client to talk trash about me ended up opening a conversation between me and that client that led to $10k in additional revenue. “That’s how Ruff Ryders roll”

DMX Motivational Message #3 – The Importance of Follow-up For Brand Building and Customer Loyalty

What’s My Name

“What’cha really want, what “ : Here X reminds us that it is important to ask the customer what their true needs are. Questionaires are a great way to find out if your clients are satisfied with your products and can also help you create new products.

“D-M-X, uh, uh”: He goes on to repeat his brand of “DMX” several times throughout his songs in an obvious nod to the fact that a prospect must see your brand messaging dozens of times before they take action.

“Come on, Ryde or die”: Building brand loyalty is a great effect of the good follow up that comes from keeping in touch with your existing customer base. With great follow up your clients will “Ryde or die” with your brand for life.

“What’s my name? DMX and I be the best”: Don’t assume the market knows who you are. DMX can get away with the elevator pitch of “I be the best”, you can’t. Create a compeling elevator pitch and always be ready to give your elevator pitch at a moments notice. Even if the market knows who you are, constantly reminding them through repeated impression via multi-channel marketing keeps your brand strong.

If the Illuminati keeps holding X down as a rapper, it’s obvious he has the chops to become a motivational business speaker.

Now obviously I have take things out a stretch, but it was a really fun exercise I did to find inspiration in unexpected places. Since hardcore rap might not be your thing, I am sure you’ve found some unexpected sources of motivation. Open up your mind and share your comments with the rest of us regarding the unexpected sources of motivation have you found for your business. What are your unexpected motivational sources?

]]>Can Outsourced Telemarketing Help My Business?https://www.verticalaxion.com/2014/03/04/can-outsourced-telemarketing-help-my-business/
Tue, 04 Mar 2014 17:40:19 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=2949Recently I met with a client about what they were currently doing to generate new leads. “Well, Herman. I’m thinking about starting up with an outsourced telemarketer to set face to face appointments for me. What do you think?”

I think it is a great move. While setting your own appointments in house is the best way to use telemarketing, you have to know where your limits are. Sometimes, you just don’t have the resources or patience to deal with cold calling. One of the biggest hurdles for many business owners, really anyone, is a fear of rejection. The second biggest hurdle I know business owners deal with is the fear of wasting money. The first fear stops us from telemarketing on our own. The second stops us from letting others telemarket for us.

To that end, let me share an experience I had with outsourced appointment setting.

I spent probably $6k over three months. I went on about 20 appointments. I had 9 awful/unqualified visits (4 computers, home office, that sort of thing) and about 6 good ones and 4 excellent ones (highly qualified/motivated/serious issue the day we called). Every time I went on a crap visit I got all worked up about how it was wasted time and money, even the kind of good ones disappointed me, the great ones seemed like a small win that didn’t level out. I was scared I was wasting time and money.

Here is the deal. I was wrong. My whole mindset was ignorant and foolish, because in the end I worked those leads like my business depended on it and landed two monthly recurring revenue deals and some project work. The monthly recurring revenue ended up being about $120k in revenue. I paid $6k total and made nearly $180k on one simple campaign. Telemarketing done right is the one of the best investments you can make IF YOU CAN CLOSE! If you don’t have a documented sales and follow up process, don’t bother telemarketing. That’s really true of all marketing.

I live and breathe marketing and even I had the wrong mindset going in. Each lead that didn’t buy seemed like wasted money to me. Even with my modern marketing mindset I got stuck on the old mindset of marketing being an expense. I forgot the first two secrets to marketing that I teach, Investment & Commitment. Now with time behind me I would tell you that was an excellent investment.

Four tips you can do to improve your telemarketing results:

1. Create A Loose Presentation: Don’t just go in blind and expect to “wing it”. If you want to see success you have to have a process that you can implement, test, and revise. I don’t expect you to run from a script for the rest of your life. Instead, create a list of discovery questions and a list of answers to common questions prospects have. Get with a friend and practice having a meeting. The more you practice, the more confident you will become.

2. Listen to win: Make that first meeting 100% about learning about their needs. They will tell you exactly what they want. If you are clever with your questions, they will tell you the price they are willing pay as well. Then rather than talk them into what you want to sell, show them that you have what they want.
3. No Means “Not Today”: Again I would get frustrated and blame the lead generator for failure. All lead gen can do for you is get a sit down. It can’t make them buy, and it can’t close the deal. Sometimes people are interested, but they aren’t ready today. Use the next tip to help you turn this situation around.

4. Document a follow up procedure: So you have met with the person and it went ok. Sometimes they don’t buy, sometimes they do. That’s not the end of your contact with them. Marketing is a circle of revenue. You should create a follow up procedure for those who buy and another to keep in touch with the ones who aren’t ready to buy today.

For instance: If they buy, send them a thank you package and set them up on a drip emails that give them tips on how to best use your products & services. If they aren’t ready to buy, get permission to set them up on an educational series of emails that talk about the problems people face when not using their products and how to solve them in general terms. At the end of each email invite them to set an appointment to talk about the subject more. Using this follow up tactic for people who weren’t ready, I have closed deals with people two years from the first time I met with them. They weren’t ready for two years, but they eventually needed what I offered and my name was at the top of their mind.

In the end, outsourced telemarketing became a real winner for my company. Since I had a documented follow up and sales process, my fears of wasting money and time were really unfounded. Ultimately, as business owners, we need to let go of some control to have success. Using outsourced appointment setting can be a great way to do that.

]]>How Valentine’s Day Could Change Your Businesshttps://www.verticalaxion.com/2014/02/14/how-valentines-day-could-change-your-business/
https://www.verticalaxion.com/2014/02/14/how-valentines-day-could-change-your-business/#commentsFri, 14 Feb 2014 16:47:13 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=2886Valentine’s Day is here again, but I probably didn’t need to tell you that. The pressure to find that special gift for the ones you love piles on pretty thick. […]]]>

Valentine’s Day is here again, but I probably didn’t need to tell you that. The pressure to find that special gift for the ones you love piles on pretty thick. Many people spend weeks preparing for Valentine’s Day each Feb 14th. It’s regarded as a very special day. So special that it is covered by news organizations, sponsored by corporations, and talked about all around the world. Valentine’s Day makes me jealous!

I am jealous of Valentine’s Day because it gets such great publicity! Most businesses would give their left arm for the publicity, press and attention Valentine’s Day gets. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a designated day, week, or even month that people thought about your company or issues related to your industry that could tie in to your marketing? I have some great news for you, you can create one yourself.

Why Create A Holiday

Holiday’s get great press attention. Nationally syndicated columnist Dave Barry, famously brought attention to one of my favorite holidays, Talk Like a Pirate Day. As simple as it’s name, Talk Like a Pirate Day is a holiday where you spend the day talking like a pirate.

It was a simple silly holiday created by a few friends after discovering how fun it was to talk like a pirate. Their decision to simply e-mail Dave Barry and tell him about their fun little holiday caused the day to explode in awareness. Now known as, International Talk Like A Pirate Day, it is celebrated around the world on Sept. 19. You can find out more about it at http://www.talklikeapirate.com.

You’re holiday doesn’t have to be silly to get attention. Raising awareness of issues in your industry is a brilliant reason you could start your own holiday. A great example of this is World Backup Day, which is observed on March 31st. It was created to encourage consumers and business owners to backup their data.

The World Backup Day website (http://www.worldbackupday.com) provides a press kit for journalists to make writing about the day easier. The site also allows anyone to download easy to print flyers and posters to help everyone spread the message. This is a great model to follow as it encourages consumers and businesses to recognize the importance of data backup policy and makes it easy for anyone passionate about the cause to help promote the day.

How To Create A Holiday

It’s actually pretty easy to create your own holiday to generate some publicity of your own. The first step is to check out Chase’s Calendar of Events (www.chases.com). Take time to look at what holidays others have created. There may be some existing holiday that already have some press attention that you can sponsor. If not, figure out a name and theme for your holiday.

Now select a day, week, or month of the year to have your holiday observed. Be sure to read and follow the rules for entries. Not all entries make in to the book, but if you won’t know if you don’t try.

Even if your holiday isn’t added to Chase’s Calendar of Events, that doesn’t mean you can’t get press. Follow the format the folks at World Backup Day have taken.

Create a compelling story to tie in to your holiday. Don’t just announce a holiday.

Write content that makes people understand the reason for observing.

Use the content to create a website, easy to print posters and flyers, and a press kit.

Schedule an event around your holiday’s theme for the public, your clients, and the press to attend.

Use that compelling story and the content you have written to create and article that you can send to local news organizations. Again, don’t just announce a holiday, tell a story.

The great thing about this is it works for companies of any size and can attract all kinds of positive publicity. With the advent of social media, you have all the tools at your fingertips to promote your holiday and create a good buzz for your event. With good planning and consistency, maybe you can have the success that Valentine’s Day has.

]]>https://www.verticalaxion.com/2014/02/14/how-valentines-day-could-change-your-business/feed/14 Marketing Tools For More Leads in 2014https://www.verticalaxion.com/2014/01/17/4-marketing-tools-for-more-leads-in-2014/
Fri, 17 Jan 2014 16:36:17 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=2757No doubt many of our readers and clients have been planning for 2014 for a while now, and after speaking with many of you I know marketing is playing an […]]]>

No doubt many of our readers and clients have been planning for 2014 for a while now, and after speaking with many of you I know marketing is playing an important part in your 2014 plans. If it isn’t already, marketing definitely needs to be there. In this article I’ll share some of the trends we are seeing in marketing. Keep your mind open for how you might be able to use these four marketing tools in your business this year.

Social Signals have increasing importance in SEO

In 2013, Google made many changes in their search Algorithm. In fact, while numbers vary we know of at least 13 changes that impacted the way Google ranks and displays search results. This means big changes for the way SEO is handled. We now see that Google seems to be giving less weight to inbound links. While creating massive amounts of links in the past was a huge key to ranking on Google’s coveted first page, now it is very important to work on other factors as well. While social signals aren’t as powerful as regular backlinks, we have noticed that they are becoming more important. Google wants to provide people using the search engine to have high quality content shown to them, so it seems they are using social signals to help identify quality content.

With this in mind, it is recommended to add social sharing buttons to your content and messages in order to give people the opportunity to share your content.

Use Ad Retargeting To Increase Conversions

Ad retargeting is a fairly new marketing tool that can really help increase conversions. Those of you who have heard me speak know that I talk a lot about the importance of having your message seen multiple times. Ad retargeting is a fantastic method for doing this.

The first time someone visits your site, they will either take you up on a call to action or browse away. Rather than ignore those who browse away, retargeting uses simple a Javascript code and cookies to follow your viewers as they browse the Internet. Your ads will be displayed on a network of sites increasing both the exposure that viewer has to your offer and the opportunities for them to revist your website.

In this way, retargeting can help you reach your target audience in a very efficient manner by showing your ads across different websites and only to visitors who have visited your site or otherwise shown interest in your products or service.

This also decreases your cost to run ads on a large group of popular sites via ad networks. Even if this doesn’t lead to an immediate sale, it can pay off well over time.

Content Marketing Continues To Be Important

Content marketing continues to be an important tool in your marketing toolbox. By creating and distributing your company’s content through blog posts, articles, social media posts, monthly newsletters, and video you establish your company’s credibility in your industry. Studies show that content marketing also helps build rapport with your prospects and existing customers.

Not only does content marketing help improve the way people perceive your company, it also provides you with a valuable resource you can use for inbound marketing. While TV, newspaper, and yellow pages become less effective and more expensive, creating your own case studies, training videos, and info products to use as giveaways for an inbound marketing campaign costs less. This has the added benefit of being considerably more effective because you can focus your content to speak to a very specific audience.

In the past publishers had the control, now you can be your own publisher.

Have an actual web page

It surprises me to see so many businesses without an actual webpage. Despite the increasing need for an online presence, many small to medium sized business owners still have either no website or one that is woefully lacking.

When you speak to people about your business one of the most common questions you hear back is, “What’s your website address?” I have met so many business owners in the past year that either say, “I don’t have one,” or “search for me on facebook”. This just isn’t going to cut it today. Having no online presence is ignoring what is happening in modern business and marketing. Having only a Facebook page is often too limiting. You need an online presence that belongs to you.

Today, buyers want to research and find their own answers. They ask their friends, they search Google, and they search social media. Often if they can’t find your website, they will move on to a competitor that has a website that will tell them what they want to know.

Beyond that, Google is the modern equivalent of the yellow pages, without a webpage you will probably not have good luck being found in the search results.

Consider implementing these four things in your marketing plan and you’ll be well on the way to succeeding in 2014.

Get Noticed, Make Money!

]]>Four Reasons You Should Be Using LinkedInhttps://www.verticalaxion.com/2013/04/15/four-reasons-you-should-be-using-linkedin/
Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:00:33 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=1660The other day one of my clients asked me what I thought of advertising on LinkedIn. While people often use LinkedIn for networking, hiring, and finding a job, it can […]]]>

The other day one of my clients asked me what I thought of advertising on LinkedIn. While people often use LinkedIn for networking, hiring, and finding a job, it can also be a great opportunity for marketing your business.

Become An Expert By Interacting On Community Pages

Find and join some Community Pages that your target audience might frequent. Now, spend a few minutes each day to participating in the conversations there. Don’t just try to sell your product. Instead take the time to help answer people’s questions and maybe ask some of your own. Over time you will build rapport and can naturally bring up your product or service in conversation. This also helps build your company brand and keeps you on top of what is happening in the vertical you sell to.

Opportunity for Laser Focused Targeted Advertising.

The paid advertising opportunities on the LinkedIn website enable you to narrow down the list of individuals who will see your advertisement by vertical, company size, and employee title. If you sell B2B services, this is an amazing opportunity. Imagine the money you will save by only targeting C-Level prospects that can actually make purchasing decisions.

Advertising on LinkedIn Can Mean More Referrals

It is possible a LinkedIn advertising project might become a big part of building your brand. Even if your ad is seen by someone who can’t use your services, it is possible they can become a referral source for you. People love to help their friends and will recommend services they saw online. Remember, the power of Social network advertising is the fact that it doesn’t end with just one interaction. A LinkedIn advertising project might become a big part of building your brand.

No Cat Photos Means Less Garbage To Sort Through

Facebook is full of distractions. It is a place where anything and everything is marketed and it makes cutting through the noise more difficult. LinkedIn is built for business. People on LinkedIn expect to do business there so you don’t have to compete for ad space and attention with the latest Farmville update.

While LinkedIn has a smaller audience that what you might find at Facebook, it is also a much more focused audience if you sell B2B products or services. Many of LinkedIn’s features are free to use so go create an account and get started today.

]]>April Fool’s Marketing Stunts: The Joke’s On You!https://www.verticalaxion.com/2013/04/01/april-fools-marketing-stunts-the-jokes-on-you/
Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:45:53 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=1638April Fool’s Day is here and with the advent of the Internet we find marketers taking full advantage of the holiday. Every year Google comes up with some great April […]]]>

April Fool’s Day is here and with the advent of the Internet we find marketers taking full advantage of the holiday. Every year Google comes up with some great April Fool’s Day stunts. My personal favorites include Google TiSP a FREE in-home wireless broadband service that worked via your toilet and the Google Book Search ‘Scratch and Sniff’ update. Other marketers also find the holiday to be a great opportunity for grabbing attention. Here are some great examples of brands who used April Fool’s Day to get noticed and make money.

The EU decided that steering wheels on the right-hand side were not a good fit for European roads, so they were banned. In response to that ban, BMW released an ad introducing “hands-free steering”. A clever way to to make their point and get more attention. My favorite line from this ad is: “Early prototypes were prone to sudden u-turns if the driver swung around to shout at the children in the back, but a satellite monitoring system invented by Dr. Bitt-Fischi, our head of R&D , has eradicated this minor flaw.” BMW stuck with the high-end engineering they are well known for even for a prank. Now that is staying on message!

The Left-Handed Whopper 1998:

Burger King has done a great job of marketing their products. Since the advent of the Internet they staged unique and notable campaigns like “Subservient Chicken“, but back in the 90’s when the squeal of a 28.8 Modem ruled the ‘net they went a bit more old school. Burger King sent out a press release announcing a solution for the 1.4 million left-handed customers they served daily: the Left-Handed Whopper. All condiments were said to be rotated 180° to suit the left-handed population. When Lefties showed up for the burger they found nothing but disappointment.

The Taco Liberty Bell 1996:

Taco Bell hit a marketing home run when they announced that in an effort to help solve the Nation Debt Crisis they had purchased rights to the Liberty Bell. Thousands of people called to protest before Taco Bell admitted to the April Fool’s hoax at noon. The stunt was so successful even the White House had to respond with a press conference in during which White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry stated the government was also “selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford Motor Co. and renaming it the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial.“

All of these campaigns cost relatively little money, resulted in big time free press and more importantly increased sales. A marketing campaign does not have to be expensive to get peoples attention. Remember you have to get noticed to make money. Use the comments to share some of your favorite April Fool’s marketing campaigns.

]]>New Changes to Facebook Timeline and How They Will Affect Usershttps://www.verticalaxion.com/2013/03/27/new-changes-to-facebook-timeline-and-how-they-will-affect-users/
Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:09:41 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=1600Anyone that has used Facebook since the beginning knows that the one constant on the social media giant is change. Just when you think you are getting a handle on […]]]>

Anyone that has used Facebook since the beginning knows that the one constant on the social media giant is change. Just when you think you are getting a handle on your timeline and comments options, they change, which is the most surefire way to raise the ire of the collected Facebook community. The normal pattern for this change goes as follows:

Facebook announces change

Users ignore announcement and hope it will just go away

Facebook reiterates announcement

Users realize to their horror that their Facebook timeline is going to change and there is nothing they can do about it.

Facebook implements change

Users complain loudly about changes and how they are going to “get rid of Facebook.”

Users do not follow through on threats

Two days later everyone gets used to the change and forgets it ever happened

Facebook celebrates

Repeat

Much like the stages of grief, Facebook users grow to accept and even like the changes made to their timeline and forget about the old design, dooming it to the long forgotten pages of Internet lore.

This year has not been any different, as Facebook has made some dramatic changes that users will inevitably hate (for a few minutes at least.) Before staging a protest or sending a nasty email to Mark Zuckerberg you should first understand the new changes to Facebook and how they will affect you.

Why Are Changes Important?

Aside from making it harder to find someone’s relationship status or tag friends in pictures, changes in the Facebook timeline could actually be important to users. There are many privacy issues on Facebook that could potentially put a person’s photos or information at risk, so it is always important to read through the latest privacy agreements and see if there have been any new changes. Some changes affect how your information will be used and shared by advertisers, while others are just simple cosmetics that will not have a drastic affect on anything except how the page looks.

New Changes to the Facebook Timeline

Before getting into how these changes to Facebook will affect users, let’s first take a look at the latest changes that have been made to the world’s most popular social network.

Cover photos: Facebook has loosened some of the rules when it comes to cover photos in an attempt to increase ad revenue. Cover photos used by businesses or anyone trying to sell a product were previously not allowed to add a “call to action” such as “get it now” or “be sure to tell your friends.” This rule has been removed so that cover photos can contain this type of text.

Lookalike audiences: This will allow advertisers to find people that are similar to those that have already “liked” their page.

Expanded Messenger: People can now make free calls on Facebook in the United States and UK, just like Skype or other types of messengers.

Threaded Comments: This feature allows comment authors to reply to other commenters in a layout that is threaded for convenience.

Single column timeline: Although this change happened at the beginning of the year, people are still talking about it. The timeline was changed from a double column to a single column design.

How These Changes Will Affect Users

Now that you know about some of the latest changes to Facebook it is time to understand how these changes will affect the Facebook social networking experience.

Cover photos: The cover photo rule was changed to give more freedom and versatility to advertisers. It will bring more cover photos into the newsfeed, which means more people will see them. It will also allow advertisers to be more experimental and add different types of “call of action” tags to their cover photo. Users will likely see more cover photos in their timeline and have more ways to interact with products, companies, movies and music that they like.

Lookalike audiences: This is another change that will mostly help advertisers. Since they will be able to further hone their audience, ads will become even more targeted. This means users will likely see more ads that appeal to their interests.

Expanded Messenger: Now users will be able to connect with friends in one place. Since Facebook is the most common and widely used social network it will allow users to consolidate their messaging, which is very convenient.

Threaded Comments: This will help people deal with and manage a large number of comments on their page and makes it easier to see the best comments.

Single Column Timeline: This will clean up the timeline, making is less confusing and easier to use.

Don’t worry, as soon as you get used to these there will likely be more changes rolled out by Facebook, but this gives you a basic understanding of the newest changes and how they will affect your experience.

]]>How to watch the Samsung Galaxy S IV launch live!https://www.verticalaxion.com/2013/03/14/watch-galaxy-s-iv-launch/
Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:55:37 +0000http://www.verticalaxion.com/?p=1554In just a few hours, Samsung will be live streaming the launch of the Galaxy S IV smartphone in New York City. This is interesting from a marketing stand point […]]]>

In just a few hours, Samsung will be live streaming the launch of the Galaxy S IV smartphone in New York City. This is interesting from a marketing stand point because this is the first time the Korean-based technology company will debut a device in the U.S. rather than overseas.

This launch is a great example of using multiple marketing tools. They handed out attractive paper invitations to the NYC launch event from their sharp looking booth at Mobile World Congress. Then, they put together a flash mob in the middle of Time Square. The flash mob was a little lame for my taste, but they are getting noticed and that’s what it takes to make money. Both of these got some decent media attention.

To me the most interesting part of this entire launch is the choice of location. The launch will be held and live streamed from Radio City Music Hall, just a short distance from Apple’s flagship store. It seems to me that Samsung has deliberately chosen to symbolically challenge Apple in their own backyard. At 7PM ET, you can watch as Samsung unveils their new Galaxy S IV smartphone live from their YouTube channel.

Samsung hasn’t forgotten the Twitterverse. They are urging fans and the media to use the hashtag #Unpacked which is the name of this entire marketing campaign.